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Latest Information
UPCOMING ABATE of AZ EVENTS
I would like to update everyone on a few things that ABATE has been up to lately Let’s go back to May when we went to the May 3rd Mesa City Council meeting to except a Proclamation declaring May Motorcycle Awareness month. When the Mayor presented ABATE with the Proclamation, in return he was given 7 copies of a sign proposal. Basically what the proposal stated was that we wanted Mesa to put up 10 "Look Out For Motorcycles" signs. Well much to my surprise, they had the signs approved and installed within 3 weeks time. They can be seen in the following locations. EB direction - Main St west of May, EB direction - University Dr east of Ironwood, EB direction - Southern Ave east of San Jose , NB direction - Alma School south of Nido Ave, NB direction - Country Club Dr north of Baseline Rd, NB direction - Power Rd north of Baseline Rd, WB direction - Southern Ave east of Rialto, WB direction - Main St west of Sunvalley Blvd, WB direction - University Dr west of 88th St, SB direction - Power Rd north of Redmont Dr. I would like to thank Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and Sanja Grujakovic, City of Mesa Transportation Department, Traffic Studies Crash Analyst, they were very cooperative and helpful. So then the next Mayor to approach was the Lake Havasu Mayor, because I was up there quite a bit, he was very receptive and will be getting an update back to us soon. While in Lake Havasu, ABATE was able to score a face to face with Senator John McCain, We discussed how dangerous it is for all motorcyclists here in AZ and how people do not respect or see us on the roads, and how when they do hit and even kill us the penalty is not enough to make people more aware of us. We asked him to put 10 signs up in each city in the State, more billboards, and also to be allowed to use the overhead light warning signs when they are not in use, to say "Look Out For Motorcycles". He too was receptive and has since been in touch with me, this one might take a little longer than Mesa did, lol. There is an appointment scheduled with the Mayor of Kingman on the 2nd of Aug., and I have been trying with no avail to contact the Phoenix Mayor, but we won't give up. I certainly hope when it's time for another update I will have nothing but good news of more and more signs. I would personally like to suggest that anyone having the bumper stickers that say "Watch Out For Motorcycles" put them on your garbage cans, so once a week when it's garbage day, everyone driving down your street gets reminded to watch out for us. Ride safe and watch out for the other guy. Margie F
State Vice President AMSAC / MSFund Budget Update To view the minutes of the Arizona Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council
(AMSAC): Although I've been waiting on the facts to be available, before I publish the exact Radio and Electronic Overhead Sign coverage the 12/3/09 council selected media plans will include, I can give you an overview of what to expect. RADIO: $55,000 - Proposed plan is to have 15 and 30 second announcements related to motorcycle safety and motorists awareness, spread out over a 4-month period. Possibly running January thru April which I am waiting to confirm, as Skypilot and myself recommended it start later so as to include the month of May. Proposed plan is to announce on 9 of the Phoenix Suns Network Coverage stations, which cover the entire state of Arizona, along with 4 major Phoenix and 3 major Tucson stations as well. I will be providing you with a list of complete location coverage as soon as it is confirmed. ELECTRONIC OVERHEAD MESSAGE BOARDS: $45,000 - As chairman of the council, I had met with ADOT in early November, obtained maps and locations of these message boards (i.e. Rural, Phoenix and Tucson Metro) and put together a proposed plan for placing the "LOOK OUT FOR MOTORCYCLES" message on 63 statewide Electronic Overhead Message Boards, where available throughout the state, to be displayed twice a day 1 day a week, all year around, for $63,000. I provided this proposal, so that the council would have something to start with and we could go from there. After a thorough review of this plan, by the council, at the November meeting, it was suggested that the council members return to the 12/3/09 meeting with ideas for a revision of this plan. Council members discussed lowering the cost, and to help in doing so, that some message boards may be more seasonal for rider presence in that area. The council members accepted a revised plan presented by Skypilot at the 12/3/09 meeting. As soon as I get confirmation and facts on what and when ADOT will be starting the scheduling of these boards, I will make that information available to everyone. I should be able to provide the Mile Post of each location and days/times the message will be present. For now, all I can tell you is that the final plan proposed included 43 message boards with state wide coverage, with 37 of those displaying the LOOK OUT message for 1 hour Tuesday morning - 1 hour Friday afternoon, year around and 6 of those displaying the same message for 1 hour Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, April-September. I was told by ADOT that if an Amber Alert or Crash message was to be displayed during our hour, therefore using some of our time period, that they track that time and would provide it to us during another timeframe. MSFund TOTALS: In regards to the additional $56,000 sweep of the Motorcycle Safety Fund. The hierarchy goes like this. DPS has a budget. Within that budget are the different department budgets of the GOHS, one of those being the Motorcycle Safety Fund. When DPS was told to cut back an additional 15%, which equated to approximately 4 million dollars, they went through and swept all of the budgets under themselves which included GOHS and therefore our fund as well. State Legislators $205,000 appropriations for fiscal year 7/1/09-6/30/10 - minus $56,000 swept due to additional cut backs = $149,000 of Motorcycle Safety Fund monies available for expenditure: $30,000 - Set aside by the council in order to restock items used by motorcyclists everywhere, all year round and for MAP presentations, and May awareness events (i.e. bumper stickers, key chains, badges, info tri-folds) $19,000 - Each year the Director of the GOHS is able to use 10% of the Motorcycle Safety Fund toward administration and maintenance of that fund and the running of the council etc. For 2009, Director Gutier chose to not take that money, but rather use it to pay for the printing of close to 50,000 Motorcycle Operator Manuals which are used by the Rider Ed schools in some cases, but a more prevalent use is by MVD to provide to motorcycle riders as needed. $55,000 - Radio (see above) $45,000 - Electronic Message Boards (see above) Although there may only be $12.31 left out of the original $205,000 appropriations for the current fiscal year, that does not reflect the balance of the MSFund at this time. Remember that any monies for motorcycle registrations coming in since 7/1/09, are accumulating in the MSFund on a daily basis. Those monies will accumulate until the next legislative appropriations for fiscal year starting 7/1/10. Anyone is welcome to attend the council meetings at any time. Please check the GOHS website for times and dates. The next council meeting, which will concentrate on motorcyclists needs for May Awareness Events, is scheduled to be held, Wednesday, February 3rd, 10am @ the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, 3030 North Central Ave. Suite 1550, Phoenix, AZ 85012. On Central just North of Thomas. Check the website for any changes to this schedule. 28-2010. Motorcycle safety fund; administration; advisory council You might want to look at your license plate frames on all of your vehicles and
determine if you need to change or modify it to meet the new law. The following is the result of changes to Arizona
law effective January 01, 2009: Download NHTSA's Report for the State of Arizona Note: Motorcycle Accident and Helmet Statistics may be skewed, since Registered Class M includes Golf Carts and ATVs to Motorcycle Stats impacting statistical accuracy. Download NHTSA's Report of Motorcycle accidents by AZ County Download Motorcycle Owners Manual - Courtesy of MSF Download State of Arizona Highway Safety Plan US DOT Misreports Gasoline Tax Revenue Useful Links HELP WANTED: Always welcome, new ideas, volunteers in any capacity to promote, expand and improve ABATE of AZ for the benefit
or all motorcyclists, regardless of machine or rider. Masterlink Newsletter Distribution Help is always Needed If you can help ABATE with the distribution of the Masterlink, then please contact the President at president@abateofaz.org State Merchandise Officer If you're interested in a new role as State Merchandise Officer, then please contact the President at president@abateofaz.org State Business Manager If you're interested in a new role as State Business Manager, then please contact the President at president@abateofaz.org Remember, this is YOUR organization and it cannot survive without its members and volunteers. If you can help your fellow members and ABATE, let us know Any Organization is only as Strong as its Members, Exacting as its Leaders, and Effective as all parts working in concert. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN A FATE THAT FALLS ON MEN HOWEVER THEY ACT;
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